Invoicing is an important if not indispensable part of today's business transactions. Generally speaking, an invoice is a commercial document issued by one business partner to another, evidencing a transaction in which terms such as the products or services, their quantities, and agreed prices are indicated. The issuance of the invoice from one business partner to another signifies that payment is due from the partner receiving the invoice (such as a customer) to the partner posting the invoice (such as a service provider) according to the agreed terms of the invoice. The invoice may also include references to prior documents, such as purchase orders, goods receipt, and other documents that have been produced in connection with the business transaction.
Businesses may use a customer relationship management (CRM) system to manage invoices for the business's customers. For instance, the CRM system may manage invoices for when a customer enters into a long-term contract for a particular service. If, however, the customer subsequently contracts for another service with the business, the CRM system may then generate a new business agreement with the customer, leading to a new invoice for that customer. The customer would thus receive multiple invoices from the same business partner.
Receiving multiple invoices from the same business partner can be burdensome for the customer. This problem is, of course, exacerbated as the customer contracts for more and more services, and thus receives more and more invoices. Current CRM systems, however, are not capable of generating a single invoice for a customer as they will generate a new contract account for each new service, causing the generation of the new invoice. Other customers may, however, want a separate invoice for each contracted service. Thus, a one-size fits all approach does not typically work for invoice processing.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an invoicing system that may efficiently process invoices in situations where, for example, a customer may contract for multiple services from a particular business.